What are Landforms

Do those natural features of landscape on the earth's surface amuse you? They are nothing but landforms, which are natural lineaments of landscape designs on the surface of the earth in form of valleys, plateaus, mountains, hills, glaciers, and plains.

How are Landforms Formed

With passing time, processes associated with physical weathering are capable of creating different types of landforms, which can be either highly dramatic or extremely subtle in appearance. Varied forces of nature, for example, water, air, ice, and movement of tectonic plates of the earth contribute to the formation of landforms. These actions lead to soil erosion, thereby, forming varied types of landforms such as mountains, valleys, plateaus, etc. Note that, while it may be just a matter of hours for some landforms to be formed, some may take eternity to form. Let us go through an extensive list of landforms that are created as a result of the various forces of nature.

Types of Landforms

Attributed by their slope, elevation, and soil type, each of the types of landforms have their unique stratification and inclination. Let us understand each of them in particular.

Mountains
	Those areas which are higher than their surroundings, and are identified by a peak are called mountains. They are giant landforms that stretch above the surrounding land in a restrained area. For example, The Himalayas. Earth's tectonic movement like earthquake or volcanic eruption is usually responsible for the formation of mountains.

Plateaus

Plateaus are different from mountains, and are usually made of formations of rocks that are flat in position. In other words, they are raised areas of land with no jagging on the top. They are formed by a variety of processes, such as extrusion of lava, water erosion, and glaciers. Through countless years, plateaus are formed by exogenic processes such as destruction of earth's surface by suns rays, water, or air. While they've shortened a number of hills and mountains, they've resulted in the formation of plateaus.

Islands

Areas which are completely surrounded by water on all sides are called islands, for example, Philippine Islands. When the lithospheric slab melts as a result of the hot spots in the lithosphere, it forms a series of volcanoes that are responsible for the formation of islands. Those volcanoes release lava from the crater, and with time, the lava cools down, thus, turning into solid. An assemblage of these solid formations make an island

Valleys
	Valleys are a hollow depression of the earth that is bounded by mountains and hills. They are a kind of natural trough in the surface of the earth, sloping down to a lake or a similar water body. The main cause behind the formation of valleys is water or ice erosion. Another cause of formation of valleys is the movement of the earth's crust or glaciers.

Deserts

Covering about one fifth of the surface of the earth, deserts are long arid regions composed of sand and rocky surfaces that receive precipitation as less as 10 inches annually. For example, Sahara Deserts in Africa. Deserts are extremely hot during the day, and equally cold during the night. They are created by rain shadows and mountains that hinder the route of precipitation. Deserts are a rich source of minerals deposits.

Rivers

Rivers are a natural course of water that flows towards a bigger water body such as a lake, a sea, or an ocean. Small rivers may also be referred to as streams, tributaries, brooks, etc. Hydrological cycle is responsible for the formation of rivers. Rivers are formed when a group of streams called headwaters that are originated from the mountains flow down. Note that the stream bed of rivers is found between the river banks.

Oceans
	Oceans are major bodies of saline water, and comprise 71 per cent of the surface of the earth. For example, Pacific Ocean, Antarctic Ocean. Oceans are believed to be formed 3.8 billion years ago. While the formation of oceans still remains a mystery, scientists believe that oceans first came into existence when clouds of vapor turned into water as the earth became cooler.

Glaciers
	Glaciers are large heaps of recrystallized ice and rock dust in significant quantities. They begin to flow outwards as well as downwards under the suppression of their weight. They are formed when the annual snowfall in a particular region exceeds the amount of snow and ice supposed to be melted in summers. As a result, snow in huge quantities conglomerates in small periods.

Loess
	Loess is a deposit of silt, usually yellow or brown in color. It comprises minute mineral particles that are driven by wind. Loess is believed to be a creation of the earlier glacial activities in areas where they now lie. These deposits have few clay particles that hold the particles together. Due to their sliding characteristics, they are subject to erosion.

Plains
	As the name suggests, plains are nothing but level stretches of land which are broad, and have no striking transformations. Coastal plains are said to be having risen from the sea level until they fuse with mountains or plateaus which are comparatively higher landforms. They have been formed during the ice age shifting tons of ice masses, thereby, flattening them and creating plains.

Hopeful as I am, the above description can be of great help to students interested in geography. This piece of information can also be used as a reference in projects for kids' purposes.